"A million signatures delivered to Yemen’s parliament call for an end to the child brides. Hundreds of Yemeni students demonstrated outside the Yemeni parliament this week to protest against child marriages. Students demanded parliament pass legislation to raise the minimum marriage age of girls to 18 in a country where child brides are a common occurrence."

"AN Israeli spy based in Dublin is suspected of supplying information for the forged Irish passports used by the team of assassins who murdered a Hamas commander in Dubai. And details of more fake Irish passports used in the assassination of a Hamas official are expected to be given to the Irish Ambassador in Dubai today." (thanks Matt)

"RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has appointed Prince Abdul Aziz bin Bandar as deputy chief of the General Intelligence at the rank of minister, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday." (thanks "Ibn Rushd")

"Yet despite the jarring apparition of occasional perspicacity, his 200-page effort at myth-busting is potholed with mistakes, misjudgements and lapses in logic. Right up front, for instance, Smith asserts that Sunni Arabs have crushed minority challengers and ruled “by violence, repression and coercion” for 1,400 years. Yet one might have assumed that Sunni rule would be natural here, considering that nine-tenths of Arabs happen to be Sunni Muslims. (And not the 70 per cent that Smith strangely proposes, a figure quite unattainable even if one throws in not just religious minorities, but ethnic ones such as Kurds in Iraq or Berbers in North Africa.) More inconvenient still to this theory of an endless Sunni Arab reign of terror is the simple fact that during most of the years since the birth of Islam, the region’s rulers have not been Sunni Arabs. Some have been Shia by sect, such as the Fatimid caliphs who ruled Egypt, the Hijaz and much of the Levant from 969 to 1171. Since that time most of the region’s rulers have been ethnically Turkish, such as the Mamluk and Ottoman sultans who controlled the Arab heartlands uninterruptedly from 1260-1918. If basic historical errors damage Smith’s argument, so too does his shrillness. In one passage, he declares that there are only two rules of Arab politics: to seize power, and to maintain it. This is a system, he says, where survival is the sole objective. But surely, one cannot help thinking, such has been the main goal of politics everywhere since the dawn of time. It is hard to avoid the impression that in ascribing uniqueness to Arab approaches to power, Smith’s real intent, despite his protestations to the contrary, is to convey a subtext, the essence of which is that the only language Arabs understand is force – and that force, therefore, should be America’s policy as well...Elsewhere Smith informs us sagely that Arab women “hold men in contempt if they are not willing to kill and die for Arab honour.” Arabs, we discover, regard any man who says he wants peace with his neighbour, “not a peace that comes through destruction and elimination, but a real peace,” as a traitor. No wonder, for this is a people so tribally ferocious, he insists, that they hate Americans, “Not because of what we do or who we are but because of what we are not: Arabs.”...The other motive for Smith’s smearing of the Arabs appears, predictably enough, to be political. From early in the book he sets out to prove that American policy, and in particular its support for Israel, has absolutely no correlation with America’s unpopularity in the region. On the contrary, enthuses Smith, the Jewish State is not merely a great strategic asset, but a regional strong horse that the Arabs have grown to fear and therefore to follow. Suffice it to say that his resort to obfuscation, insinuation and cant reflects the extreme difficulty of making such assertions persuasive. As Smith seems unable to appreciate through the smoke of his own rhetoric, the Arabs’ weakness is not so much the result of the instability that cripples their states and societies, but its cause. Whatever America’s intent, its hapless indulgence of Israel does nothing to address this, and much to weaken even its closest Arab friends. This book is saddening, and not only because unwary readers may swallow some of this Kool-Aid and conclude that America’s proper role is to cudgel unruly Arabs. That certainly appears to be the author’s purpose. It is saddening also because Smith, like the imperialists of old, is not completely wrong in his critique of Arab society. Yet to picture Arab faults as both sui generis and hopelessly beyond repair is no help at all. Had Smith argued with sympathy rather than contempt, and sought to understand rather than smugly condemn, he might have been worth listening to." (thanks Mohamed)

"Michael Boyle, a lecturer in strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, said European countries were "unlikely or unwilling to make it a serious political issue with Israel. It'sgoing to raise up embarrassing questions and complicate their relationship with Israel," he said." (thanks David)

"The Lebanese may be divided on whether the Shiite militant group Hezbollah is a savior or a menace, but according to a new poll they appear to agree on one thing: the group's armed wing is a force to be reckoned with. According to the poll, which was conducted by the Beirut Center for Research and Information and published in the left-leaning Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, 84% of Lebanese "trust the resistance's capabilities facing any Israeli attack.""

"The killers of a Hamas commander drugged him before suffocating him, Dubai police said Sunday." So it took 26 top secret Mossad agents to kill one Palestinian, and they could only do that after drugging him? OK. (thanks Olivia)

Hi. We are the dumb Mossad secret agents (there are more of us but they are on another poster). It is not true that because we were exposed in Dubai that we have lost our jobs. We still have jobs. In fact, we have been just hired to play ourselves in the next Pink Panther movie.

"Perhaps this perpetuated the occupation?That could be. I don't think it did. Even Arafat, the man who would kiss me when we met, told me he admired Moshe. Even the Jordanian chief of staff told me in 1948: "What a pleasure it is having your husband as an enemy." His behavior toward the Arabs was positive even after the Six-Day War. He would travel alone to Nablus; he liked being with them. He had a dialogue with them. Today, who talks with them? For the current government, peace is just a word.Have you lost hope for peace?I think Zionism has finished its work. I've endured many wars and I can't ignore the fact that they didn't want us. When I go to the territories, I don't even bother instilling hope in them. Out of courtesy, I tell them that I hope something will change, but the deterioration is just awful. Particularly the fence. This is something I can't tolerate." (thanks Maryam)

Israeli terrorist, Ehud Barak, who shot Palestinian poet, Kamal Nasir, along with his girlfriend in their bed while they slept, along with other terrorist crimes that he has committed, spoke in Washington, DC the other day. He was raving and making threats against Lebanon and "its infra structures". Imagine if an Arab makes threats against Israeli civilian targets. Can you imagine the uproar? The UN Security Council would have met, I swear. And when an Arab responds by saying, that IF Israel were to attack us, we will attack back, the entire Western press carries sensational headlines to the effect that: Arabs are making threats at poor Israel. I mean, if you really are not cynical, those things can drive you nuts, especially if you have any liberal hopes of change within the US--which I never had. Barak then blustered that Hizbullah is a Lebanese party that receives aid from Iran and Syria. He found that to be outrageous. That non-Lebanese are supporting a Lebanese group. Let me say this: Israel did that for decades: it supported the South Lebanon Army: it gave it money, uniforms, weapons and torture tools and techniques. But there is one difference: SLA was an army of mercenaries and Hizbullah (no matter what you think of it) is a mass party with a mass basis of support. Evidence? Well, when Israel humiliatingly withdrew from Lebanon, SLA members fled for their lives. When Syria withdrew from Lebanon, Hizbullah flourished in Lebanon. What does that prove? That Syria and Iran are doing what Israel did for years AND FAILED. Also, don't blame Lebanon because your gangs had their butts kicked, real bad. OK? Got it? In an era when the US ceases to protect Israeli war crimes and occupation, people like Ehud Barak would be treated like we treat other famous terrorists, like Khalid Shaykh Muhammad.

I received a few responses to my critical review of Rogan's book, but I will keep responses that I have received from some of his students to myself. But a well-known professor of Middle East studies in the UK wrote me this (she/her does not want to be identified but I cite with her/his permission): "i thought you'd be really pissed off by the the last bit of the book where he says that there is still hope, and then he points to the Emirates, for potato's sake! He says that the Dubai miracle and "democracy" is a symbol of the great future to come! And not a word about the labourers." I will take this as a chance to add a few notes. I totally agree with my colleague here. I could have said more, on this and other. Nobody who understands Arabic would describe Arab Gulf media as "free". And certainly no one would talk about Saudi Arabia as "broadening participation" (p. 496). He also channels Thomas Friedman in talking about the Arab Human Development report and says that it is "written by Arabs, for Arabs". Oh, no it is not. Let me explain it. It is signed by Arab names but written under the direction of the White Man at UN and in DC, and is funded by Saudi money and is written for the White Man. In fact, the proliferation of those reports exploded during the Bush doctrine years. Coincidence? no way. His brief section on the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006 is rather appalling. He seems to accept "without asking how or why" as the classical Islamic theologians used to say, the Israeli claims. That the capture of the Israeli occupation soldiers is a justification for war. Rogan needs to know that Israel kidnaps Lebanese civilians regularly, and I would be surprised if the believes that this would qualify as justification for war on Israel (I do of course, always, as long as Palestine and the rest are occupied and as long as Zionism is imposed on our lands by force). Worse, he cites a figure of 500 Hizbullah "militiamen killed" (p. 494), which the highest figure I have ever seen and Hizbullah official figures are less than a 100 (although Mossad leaked a lie that a Hizbullah leader admitted a higher figure and that was circulated in US media OF COURSE). That inflated figure by Rogan lowers the percentage of civilian casualties killed by Israel: but I am not sure that Rogan wanted to say that Israel "only killed" 700 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians during the war. To be fair, he did not say that. I can go on and on but I need to eat and sleep and live. Other things could have been said. In talking about the history of the Arabs, I also recommended Peter Mansfield's book (the first edition is better than the later ones, in my estimation). But I also failed to mention Jacques Berque's The Arabs: Their History and Future. This book is not known but it is one of my favorites. WHat is great about it is the originality of coverage and approach. His notion of the "eternal bedouin" in the first chapter bothers me though. But it is an excellent read by a master who really knew the Arabs and knew their language (the man translated the Qur'an into French, for potato's sake). Comrade Talal asked me why I did not mention Marshall Hodgson's great project, the Venture of Islam. I told him that Hodgson's is more theoretical and is neither for the lay person (with all due respect to the lay person) nor for the undergraduate. But that book has important sections and ideas: the notion of the "Islamicate" for me precedes many of the problems that we later faced in Islamic studies. And he refused to treat Islamic history or civilization as a closed system apart from other civilizations. OK, I am done.

PS For those who prefer to read Arabic to English, I want to state that Philip Hitti's history of the Arabs is available in superb translation by a team of professors from AUB at the time.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

"United States military intelligence spied on Planned Parenthood and other domestic groups as part of US security preparations for the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, according to a recently declassified military document obtained by a civil liberties group Thursday." (thanks Olivia)

"A 2003 handbook for the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq exhorts soldiers to "Do your best to prevent war crimes" and warns that "when an Arab is confronted by criticism, you can expect him to react by interpreting the facts to suit himself or flatly denying the facts."" (thanks Maria)

Mahmood sent me this (I cite with his permission): "In case you care, a friend of mine asked Noam Chomsky what he thought of your work, and he said this: "I've read some of his work, and liked it. Didn't know about his anarchist inclinations. Should become more familiar with him." "

This is rather funny. They are clearly so nervous and so embarrassed by the global revelations about their dumb terrorist team in Dubai, that now they are trying that the publicity has been good for them. Oh, yeah. And the Lewinsky scandal was good for Clinton, just as Watergate great for the reputation of Nixon. (thanks Karen)

"A senior Fatah official claimed Friday that Israel had confiscated VIP IDs it distributed to half of the members of the organization's central committee, explaining that they had participated in anti-fence protests in the West Bank." (thanks David)

Now, the dumb Mossad is planting dumb leaks to try to reduce its public embarrassment: ""The passport photographs of the agents who assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai were doctored so the agents would not be identified, a Haaretz probe discovered Friday. The discovery casts doubt on claims that the espionage agency that carried out last month's hit on the senior Hamas operative committed grave errors. Various features of the people in the photographs, such as eye color or the line of a lip, were changed - slightly enough so as not arouse suspicion at passport control, but still enough that the real agent could not be recognized."" (thanks Rob)

"The club’s owner, Ali al-Faraj, is a Saudi. (Portsmouth supporters lament that they are owned by a Saudi sheikh who is not as flush as his status would suggest.) Two of the team’s best players - Nadir Belhadj and Hassan Yebda - are Algerians. The team manager, Avram Grant, is an Israeli. And so is the man in the even more critical role of financial adviser - Daniel Azougy - who has been barred from practicing law in Israel itself, after a conviction for fraud." (thanks Mohamed)

Thank you for your interest in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Scholarship Programme.In its strive to deliver top quality projects for the benefit of the Arab World, the Foundation is currently undertaking a rigorous review of its current strategy and programmes with a particular focus on the scholarship programme. Therefore, we regret to inform you that we will not be accepting new applications for scholarships until further notice. " (thanks Mohammad)

"In other words, the ratio of opposition-oriented to government-oriented television changed from about 50:25 (or 2:1) in favor of the opposition to 15:25 (or 1:1.7) in favor of the government in terms of audience share. In most countries in the world, where the media is not democratically controlled, any opposition would be overjoyed by having such a ratio. In Venezuela, of course, where the opposition is used to having ruled the country for four decades, such a disadvantage is an intolerable encroachment on their “freedom of speech.”" (thanks Hassan)

Hi. We are the dumb Mossad terrorist hit team of Dubai. We not only left our pictures for all to see, but just to be sure we also left fingerprints and DNA evidence. Yes, we are thorough. Nothing left to chance. "Now Dubai's police chief tells Al Arabiya news channel that authorities in the United Arab Emirates city-state had gathered DNA evidence and fingerprints left by some of those allegedly involved in the killing of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Mabhouh. Police chief Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told Al Arabiya that police had collected DNA samples from at least one person and fingerprints of several others believed to have been involved in the Jan. 19 killing." (thanks Dina)

Look at this picture. I feel it speaks for itself, in that Nasrallah seems the dominant one. That is why I find it laughable how in the US press they view Nasrallah as a mere tool of Ahmadinajad. (AFP)

So the mouthpiece of Prince Salman and his sons (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat) was bragging on its front page with a big headline that a book "in the US" has been published on King `Abdullah. So you read further and discover that indeed there is an English language book on the Saudi King by right-wing Iranian-American Rob Sobhani. I went to graduate school with the dude, and we took classes together. We barely exchanged greetings. He was a supporter of the Shah of Iran and I was a supporter of Bakunin.

I have been looking forward to this book by Rogan (seen above, to the left). Really. I like the sweeping histories of the Middle East--when they are good. I am still biased: I am not ashamed to admit that I like and enjoy Philip Hitti's classic. That volume is a work of art: the man read all that was available in every language and distilled the best nuggets. And with the pen, Hitti was an artist, methodological problems aside. Hitti's book has not been surpassed since, in my judgement. I also am a fan of Ira Lapidus' History of Islamic Societies. It is a majestic work: covering so much (too much perhaps) but meticulously researched and organized. I remember when Albert Hourani told us about his impending work on the history of the Arabs: I was most eager to read it. But was mightily disappointed when it came out. I felt it was rushed and casually assembled. It was probably least impressive of Hourani's work, and even lacked his captivating style. I can go on and on (I like the brief book on the Arabs by Maxime Rodinson but I like everything by Maxime Rodinson). Let us get to this one. I ordered it and carefully devoured it. Let me say some nice things about it before I begin. Rogan is a good writer: I like how he writes and he knows how to keep the reader interested. I also like the effort: that he wanted to write a book that could be of use by students. I like the ambition too. I also like that a book of this size does not have many errors: and that is rare. There are very few errors in the book (like referring to King Faysal as "committed Arab nationalist" (p. 367) when in reality he was a fierce opponent of Arab nationalism and proposed the Islamic bond instead: that is a major mistake I would say, or that Prince Nawwaf is a Minister of Interior (p. 448) when Prince Nayif held that position for decades, while Nawwaf was head of foreign intelligence until his "accident" in th Phoenicia Hotel suite in Beirut, when he was replaced with Prince Muqrin; his account of the `Ayn Rummanah massacre is largely derived from the official Phalanges account and does not conform to the official state account presented by then prime minister Rashid Sulh: there is no evidence that Pierre Gemayyel survived an assassination attempt that day (p. 382).) I like the selection of the pictures although there was much that was violent and destructive in some of them. But that may be about it, pretty much. The problem begins with the introduction. I was so annoyed by the introduction that I was determined that it not affect me reading of the book. Rogan, perhaps seeing something in the news and deciding to make his reader interested, decided to focus on Rafiq Hariri and the so-called Cedar Revolution. Now, to the problems.

1) The very first page of the book begins with an account--bizarrely--of Hariri's life and career. The account is fanciful, really. He has Hariri using his own money to fund reconstruction for Lebanon: I mean, not even Hariri family members make that claim, especially when Forbes estimates of wealth show Hariri's fortune more than quadrippling during Hariri's reign. And of all the Arab intellectuals who speak about Arab affairs, Rogan decided to pick Samir Qasir (a staunch Lebanese nationalist who was active in the Hariri-Cedar-Potato revolution before his assassination) as a voice of the ENTIRE Arab people. This is like when a Westerner picks a native who says what the Westerner wants to say about the native but is too afraid to say it in 2010. I mean, this is like when Fox News hosts blacks who speak about "backwardness" of blacks. Samir Qasir's little book cited by Rogan is an anthology of recycled cliches that can be found in the writings on the Middle East in any and every issue of Commentary magazine. Rogan is so impressed, for example, by this statement--that sums up the plight of the Arabs--by Qasir: "How did we become so stagnant? How has a living culture become so discredited and its members united in a cult of misery and death"? (P. 3) That impressed Rogan and he sets it as an introduction to his book. I braced myself although I must confess the introduction is worse than the rest. But at least, it gave me a clue as to the mindset of Rogan (a man I have never met, I must say).

2) The author decides that Arab history begins with the Ottoman control of the Middle East. Muhammad and Islam don't figure as part of the history of the Arabs and the author does not explain to us why he decided to write a book titled The Arabs: A History, that excludes, well, much of Islamic history. Unless the author is only interested in what is known as the age of decline. I do remember that Albert Hourani once told us that he heard Philip Hitti at his parents' house explaining that his history of the Arabs ended with the Ottoman because he did not believe that there was much history afterwards, so Rogan did the reverse.

3) the author with a bit of fanfare and flourish, promises the reader that he will rely on Arabic sources and accounts and criticizes others who did not do so. So I was looking forward to see what he will do in that regard only to find out that in fact, he did not really read that much Arabic sources and many of the Arab accounts' cited, were translated into English (Nawal Saadawi, Lina Mikdadi, Mikha'il Mashaqqash, Leila Khaled, Huda Shawrawi, and he even the famous account of Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibn Iyas on the Ottoman conquest of Egypt is cited in translation.

4) The chapters are thinly researched. The author barely scratched the surface of research I feel. Each chapter is rather based on one source (in English) and supplemented by a memoir of an Arab published in English if available. He does not even get into the scholarly debates on the history of the period in question, not even in the footnotes. Does not use much of the published scholarly accounts in French or German or even English. One or two suffices, mostly memoirs. So if he is writing on the 1958 civil war in Lebanon, the memoirs of Sham`un suffices, or that of Kamal Jumblat for a later period.

5) The author is just awful when it comes to the French occupation of Algeria. I mean, the treatment of the Algerian war of independence in the chapter "The Decline of Arab nationalism" is pretty much pro-French. In this section, he was on France what Kershner-Bronner team is on Israel. For him, the French only killed in "reprisals" and in response, and only because the FLN dragged them into terrorism. He is very judgmental of the FLN when he was non-judgmental of the Israeli terror groups which he at one point refers to them as "resistance" groups. I am not saying that his treatment of the Arab-Israel conflict is bad: it is not, in fact, although he has that weakness toward King Husayn (or Khusayn, as Shimon Peres calls him) that his colleague at Oxford, Avi Shlaim, has, and he cites him in this regard.

6) The woman question is token and insulting. As if somebody told him that women were invisible in this book, so he ads token references to Nawal Saadawi's memoirs or Huda Shaarawi. It was more insulting that adequate, really.

7) This is not a people's history. This is an elite and palace history. Average regular Arabs, with their dreams and aspirations dont fit into the picture. He is interested in the higher level, although he makes that reference to the famous memoir of Al-Budayri (a barber in 18th century Damascus.

8) The class element also does not make it into the treatment. The classes are summed up by the ruling elite.

9) The story after the end of WWI, gets less interesting to read. He was much better at telling the story of Ottoman rule and control. Later, it became a typical blow-by-blow account of modern history with nothing new to add.

10) His views on Lebanon are shaped by the most right-wing versions of history of the civil war, and beyond.

11) He has no interest in ideas or in intellectual history. He has a chapter about Arab nationalism but it is rather superficial. He does not explain what the Ba`th is: he only translates its one motto. The story of Arab communism is barely told.

12) He is rather sympathetic to Western powers in their intervention in the Middle East. Again, when the British or French intervene in the Middle East, the story is told as if locals were engaged in a fight.

13) This may be unfair to say but I feel that he did not get to know Arabs or understand them, or be interested in understanding them. I compare that say to the book on the history of the Arabs by Peter Mansfield. Mansfield clearly got to know and understand Arabs. Rogan talks about them from a distance: and that is quite a handicap in a book of this kind.

14) Like he Lawrence of Arabia syndrome in Western culture, he has the habit of throwing in a Westerner into the story, to make it more palatable to the Western reader. The natives are not interesting in themselves.

15) There is no feel for culture of the Arabs in the book. Nothing about their music, literature, and cuisine. Philip Hitti always talked about Arab love for poetry, for example. It is not that Rogan ignored it; I get the feeling that he did not know about it. I mean, not even a passing reference to Umm Kulthum?

16) There is no passion by the author: you don't feel he is moved by struggles for equality, liberation, or justice. It is written with the passion of a government bureaucrat writing a memo.

17) Islam is not probed or even understood in a book of this size and this scope.

If you were to ask me, I would still tell you to read the little book on the Arabs by Rodinson, and the classic by Hitti. I would even recommend the very dated Karl Brockelmann's History of the Islamic Peoples.

And Mossad disinformation is really dumb, especially when it creeps in the Arab media. I mean, Mossad disinformation under these weird (clearly made-up) names on Elaph are rather laughable in their obviousness.

"Nothing illustrates the sensitivity of the European Union’s relationship with Israel better than the

statement which EU foreign ministers issued on Monday complaining about the use of forgedEuropean passports in last month’s killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas commander, inDubai. The statement contained several sentences that were masterpieces of waffle, such as thefollowing: “The EU … believes that its passports remain among the most secure in the world, fullymeeting all international standards.”The statement was, however, remarkable chiefly for its reluctance to spell out that the EUholds Israel responsible for the flagrant misuse of identity documents belonging to Europeancitizens." (thanks Mouin)

"Ironically, though, it was the neo-conservative Bush team that argued that culture didn’t matter in Iraq..." 1) So Thomas Friedman is in fact more offensive and bigoted than neo-cons. 2) when racist say "culture" they mean race, ethnicity, and genes.

" The United States has "information operations" and other activities in Iraq to counter the Iranians, but apparently it has not mounted a full-scale covert-action campaign of its own, in part because of a desire not to manipulate a democracy that America helped create." If this not a funny statement, nothing will make you laugh then. I mean, Saudi Arabia, UK and US have spent more money in influencing the vote in Iraq more than Iran. For sure.

This is really an offensive piece: "So many black women are single, she says, because they are stuck in the groove of a one-track song: sitting alone, waiting for that one "good" black man to come along and sweep them off their feet...."

"WITH a lot less exposure in the world’s press than it got for its recent Dubai operation, Israel has quietly suffered a string of setbacks in Lebanon, a front-line state with which it has often been at war. Lebanon’s security service says that since November 2008 it has broken up no fewer than 25 Israeli spy rings. The reported arrest this month of a colonel in Lebanese army intelligence, identified solely by the initials GS, brings the number of those charged to 70-plus; 40 of them are in Lebanese police custody." In fact, the number of those charged, is now over 80. (thanks Mohammed)

I disagree with Judith Butler. The BDS movement is meaningless if it is only confined to "occupation"--and it is clear that she is only talking about the occupation of 24% of Palestine. BDS movement SHOULD be against Zionism and should be aimed at boycotting all facets of Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the 1967 marking point is--or should be--irrelevant. I mean, I can't imagine that we would be debating whether the boycott of Apartheid South Africa should be directed at one district in South Africa. It was a movement against the entire state and the entire project. We need to do the same against Zionism, in all of its forms. (thanks Ali)

"The conflict in Afghanistan killed nearly 350 children in 2009, a top UN official said on Wednesday. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN secretary general's special representative for children and armed conflict, said 346 children were killed in Afghan violence last year. "131 of these were by aerial strikes, 22 by search-and-raid by Special Forces; 128 were killed by anti-Government elements, including assassinations and suicide bombings," she said during a visit to Kabul."" (thanks Olivia)

When Ian Black is not printing Mossad disinformation, he allows Israelis--only Israelis--to speak. So he does not mind if the Nakbah is writing about, provided it is written about by Israeli Jews. Only the occupiers can speak about the plight of the natives. To paraphrase Marx in theses on Feuerbach, the task of Israeli critics of Israel is not to offer words or flowers, but to either join the Palestinian resistance movement, or at least pack and vacate the occupied homes. Short of that, they are the enemy. "Condemned bluntly by another Israeli novelist as "anti-Zionist," it won the prestigious Sapir prize last summer, though it was quickly withdrawn amid accusations of bias by the judges. "I feel as if the author is using language as a weapon against us," complained one Jewish reader. "Disgusting," thundered another. "How low will you stoop?" Hilu, now promoting the English translation of The House of Rajani, makes no apology for what he calls his "narrative of the other," which foreshadows the nakbah – the dispossession and flight of the Palestinians during Israel's 1948 war of independence." (thanks Molly)

"Rivals in the race for the Republican nomination are questioning whether former Rep. Tom Campbell is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They base their criticisms on his voting record, statements about a Palestinian homeland and capital, and some of his past associates. Their allegations have raised enough concerns for Campbell that he plans to meet Monday with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He also is reaching out to other Jewish leaders. His campaign's honorary chairman, former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, weighed in to call Campbell's support for the nation "unwavering." "He clearly understands the very real threats facing the Israeli people, all the more urgent now as Iran rushes toward nuclear arms," Shultz said in a statement released to The Times. "Tom Campbell's record of action tells you where he stands, and I stand with him."" Well, let me say this. I don't care who wins and who loses in US senate races. I could care less. But I have met Campbell: I did a TV show with him once, or twice. He is a rather well-informed person, who knows quite a bit about foreign policy and his views on the Middle East are not as insane and ignorant as the rest of the bunch. Of course, that is in itself a disqualification in American politics.

The thing about the religious bigotry and political bias and ethnic/racial preference of the New York Times is such that any Israeli--no matter what he/she does in life--can say anything and write anything and be published without any editing in that paper. An Arab could not be published, and any submission by an Arab would get edited down so bad that they are capable of turning George Habash's submission into a submission indistinguishable from a submission by Muhammad Dahlan or Sari Nusseibeh. That is why I urge Arabs to not submit contributions to this enemy paper. Look at this vapid and lousy piece by this Israeli. They can say anything, as in: "Israelis still look back at the attacks by Arab armies in 1948, 1967 and 1973..." Just like that. So Arab armies now attacked Israel in 1967? I wish that was true. I just wish. Forget about politics, is there any history book anywhere in the world in any language that would state that Arab armies struck at Israel first in 1967? In reality, all Arab-Israeli wars were UNFORTUNATELY started by Israel except one. UNFORTUNATELY, the Arabs only started the 1973 war.

"This week Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) sent a letter to UCI Chancellor Michael Drake requesting that the Muslim Student Union be banned from campus because it goes against "the university's imperative to provide an education in an atmosphere of academic liberty, free of coercion and conducive to meaningful debate and free inquiry." DeVore said he was qualified to weigh in on the matter because, among other things, he studied Arabic overseas and helped secure U.S. support for Israel's antiballistic missile." (thanks Dina)

Some have asked me whether I have obtained this book yet. The answer: of course, I have and I have read it, very carefully. I have many comments about it: I will write something here and will write a long piece on it for AlAkhbar.

""Mr. Ross, who is also the author of "The Volunteer," a memoir of his time in the Mossad, said, "The liaison and special political operations division of Mossad has a relationship with senior figures in the emirates' government"" (thanks Hussein)

We received many contributions to the contest. Olivia reviewed them throughly and passed on the best one to me. It has been agreed that these are the winners.

1) Winner number one: M K

Entry: "Graduates of the University of Phoenix Israeli Branch School of Intelligence"

2) Winner number two: Marc Abizeid

Entry: "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release
22 February 2010Mossad spy team taking extra precautions for upcoming mission
To all local and international media:
Hi, I'm the deputy spokesperson for the top secret Mossad hit team (our chief spokesperson wasn't available because he's busy coming up with new aliases for our next mission in Syria the day after tomorrow). We just wanted to assure you that our next mission will be undertaken seamlessly without the messy footprints we left behind in Dubai. Our 11-person team will arrive in Damascus on the first flight from Jordan that morning to ensure we have enough time to prepare. We'll all be seated in business class so we can sleep on the plane. This time around, we will make sure to request that management disable all cameras at the Abdel Abed Hotel where our HA target will be staying that night. Furthermore, we'll all be wearing clown masks when we enter to conceal our identities and to not arouse suspicion (this was my idea). Oh, and some of us also got hair cuts and trimmed our beards since our last mission. Please rest assured that this mission is being planned in absolute secrecy using high-tech spy equipment with no chance whatsoever of fallacy. Don't believe me? Then become a fan of our Facebook page where we will be providing top secret, up-to-minute developments concerning our whereabouts and actions, and see for yourselves!
Sincerely,
Mr. Super duper top secret Mossad spy man
(Ha- I bet you thought I was going to give you my name, didn't you! Can't fool us!)"

3) Winner number three: Hilwa Muhammad

Entry: ""It was a close one, we had [been] following Mabhouh the grocer for the last two years.""

For those who asked me, no. Olivia does not read my emails, and she does not have access to them. She only has access to the blog and its password. The email angriestarab at gmail was set up for the purposes of the dumb Mossad contest and should only be used by readers for business correspondence regarding the site. All other correspondence should be addressed to my personal email.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

""Skiing in Lebanon is very popular," explained Ezzad Kraytem, Secretary General of Lebanon's Olympic Committee. "The slopes are only 20 minutes away from the coast, so you can go to the beach and ski in the same day."" I really wish that the Lebanese would stop peddling that cliche. We have mountains and beaches here in California too, and they are more beautiful than the garbage beaches of Lebanon. (thanks Matthew)

Profile of a Mossad killer in the mouthpiece of sons of Zayid: "In private time he likes to listen to classical music, or drive his Jeep to commune with nature, sucking contemplatively on his pipe. " (thanks Chris)

"Now back in Israel, Dovik Peer, Shahar's father, told Army Radio a bit about what it was like. The organizers' efforts to ensure that Shahar participate and make it home in one piece entailed extremely high security. They took up the whole floor of a hotel, a different one from where the rest of the players were staying. An extensive security detail kept a watchful eye on them in a way "I think is very similar to the prime minister's security in Israel," he said: First, second and third circles of security meticulously scoured the vicinity before allowing them out of the room. The closest routes between hotel and car, car and private dressing room, dressing room and court were chosen, to minimize Peer's exposure. Most meals were ordered in, the few taken outside were done with bodyguards. Needless to say, they didn't see much of Dubai. Work with us here, the guards told them. Things are tense. Asked whether he was scared, Dovik said, "Not for a second." Peer herself told the press upon her return that everyone in Dubai took good care of her and tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible. It was a difficult week but an important one, she said, at the end of which she felt she had friends in Dubai." (thanks Dina)

This is a true story. I am too skeptical to be unreasonably skeptical. Yesterday, Olivia sent me the top three winning entries for the dumb Mossad poster. Today, those emails have disappeared and they are not in any folder. Of course, Olivia have duplicate copies.

"Maariv reported on February 23 that the Tel Aviv municipality launched a “counselling program” to “help” Jewish girls who date and/or marry Arab boys.Grassroots and governmental campaigning against interfaith mingling is nothing new in Israel: Just a few months ago there was a “task force” set up by the municipalioty of Petah Tikva, which is basically a suburb of Tel Aviv. The job of the task force was to patrol the city at night and break up Arab-Jewish dates. The London Times also covered the activities of a concerned parents’ group vigilante gang patrolling the rapidly integrating Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev, intimidating mixed couples." (thanks Akkadia)

Do you notice how desperate Israeli propaganda media are in trying to shore up the image of the dumb Mossad? "Eran Davidov, marketing manager of a top mail order company selling Israeli-made products, said his company had been overwhelmed by demand since launching a special “Show off your Mossad and Israeli pride” campaign earlier this week, directed mainly at Jewish communities in the Diaspora." (thanks Farah)

"Shipley's answer strongly suggests that Dadkhah did not submit her Op-Ed unsolicited, but rather, the NYT purposely sought out an Op-Ed to urge more civilian deaths in Afghanistan ("We found Ms. Dadkhah from work she did in Small Wars Journal"). Why would they do that? Maybe tomorrow the NYT Editors can actively solicit an Op-Ed urging the use of biological agents and chemical weapons on civilian populations in Yemen. After that, they can search out someone to advocate medical experiments on detainees in Bagram. Perhaps the day after, they can host a symposium on the tactical advantages of air bombing hospitals and orphanages as a means of keeping local populations in line."" (thanks Emily)

Those Lebanonese: they don't miss an opportunity to brag. This one is about the percentage of gold to eggplants in the country. The article does not mention the rank of percentage of braggarts per square meter. (thanks Elie)

Hi. We have been unhappy with all the attention that the dumb Mossad team has been getting since the Dubai assassination. We are now coming forward to assert that we are dumb: as dumb as the other dumb top secret Mossad team and we have been identified by Dubai police. There is more than one dumb top secret Mossad team, we would like you to know, and we too smile at the cameras, damn it.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

It is high time for me to out and pay a tribute to Olivia. Here is a young American woman in her mid-twenties who has been volunteering hours of work for this website. I have never met Olivia but she has been a daily supporter of this blog. I thank the same person only once per day but she deserves more thanks. She supplies me with tons of daily links from which I select and highlight and mock. She knows what I want and she knows what I am looking for. Sometimes she sends me stuff that I know I won't use, and I order her back to work, and she sends me insults. I have to thank people around the world who send me links on a daily basis. Some are friends and some are supporters and some are encouragers. And Olivia is the office coordinator for an office that does not exist. I tell Olivia that if this site is taken over by NBC or WSJ, she would become a paid employee. Over extended hospital stays, Olivia continued to send me links. Kid you not. I am really grateful to her, and I asked her permission before I wrote this but did not, of course, tell her what I want to say. It is people like Olivia that make it clear to me that our efforts against Zionist crimes are not the sole responsibility of one person, no matter how dedicated. But that it is a collective effort in which the small parts make up the big picture. Olivia sometimes goes over long posts after I post them (she alone has the password of the blog--a woman that I have not met but that I have trusted) and corrects mistakes and errors although she often misses other mistakes and errors. Unlike me, she is not perfect. She went through the contributions of the best comment for the Dumb Mossad Team contest and we shall post the results this week. Olivia: I thank you. Go to work now. You are not paid but you may be getting a golden blender at some point. Not soon though. Don't get your hopes up. And turn off the lights of the office on your way out tonight, and feed the canary.

PS After I posted this, I received the following message from Olivia: "thanks, now i have to login to fix all your fuckin spelling errors."

Hi. We are the dumb top secret Mossad team. We are not as dumb as you think. We just did not know that somebody has invented something called video cameras. In fact, we received additional training and we have been instructed to smile and wave to the camera.

"A Jeddah court sentenced an Asian maid to 200 lashes and a year in prison after being found guilty of mixing her urine into the food of the family she works for. The maid’s sponsor complained and accused her of performing black magic. The maid reportedly claimed she was getting back at the family for bad treatment. The woman did not appeal the verdict." I hope that she did that regularly. (thanks Karim)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

"Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad forthrightly brought his case for building a Palestinian state to Israeli political and military leaders, and they applauded. The new Palestinian attitude towards how to end the occupation that began in 1967 was on full display during Fayyad's speech at the Herzliya conference in Israel earlier this month, and it has had a considerable impact on its Israeli audience." (Olivia)

"Indeed, it seems that the western countries backing Israel and calling on Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table are also those turning a blind eye to the illegal arrests and torture. According to Wisam Ahmed, advocacy officer at Al-Haq – West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists – both PA and American officials have been notified about the widespread use of illegal political detention and torture by PA security, yet it has continued." (thanks Olivia)

"... Industry Minister, and former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said that «the operations carried out by« Mossad »required the approval of the Prime Minister alone, without recourse to the government».cHe told Israel's Army Radio: «.... the Prime Minister is not obliged to inform the government when he gives Chief of Mossad the 'go ahead'...". He further added that it was «the prime minister prerogative to inform the Minister of Defense, .... but is not obliged to do so».... Ben Eliezer neither denied nor confirmed Mossad's role in the Mabhouh assassination. He further revealed that he used at least one fake passport when he was a colonel in the army. He continued: «This happened when I was sent on behalf of the Ministry of Defense to meet with Lebanese Christian leader Bashir Gemayel in Beirut in the late 1975». Moreover, he added: «I went to Beirut, totally disguised.... I was transferred to the Lebanese border and was met by Dany Chamoun (son of former Lebanese President Camille Chamoun) to pick me up and take me directly to Bashir Gemayel »...."" (thanks FLC)

"A fellow at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Martin Kramer, has called for "the West" to take measures to curb the births of Palestinians, a proposal that appears to meet the international legal definition of a call for genocide." (thanks Ali--not electronic and 20,000 other people)

"Rotana, which owns a variety of media assets from an online music video on demand site modelled on News Corp’s Hulu joint venture to a large library of music from the region, already shows programming from News Corp’s Fox channels in Saudi Arabia through its free-to-air television network.An investment in Rotana has been under discussion for some time and many expected a deal to be done last autumn. One person familiar with the deal described it as ”small but symbolic” The decision to invest follows meetings between Mr Murdoch and Prince Alwaleed in New York in January, when the pair discussed a “future potential alliance with News Corp”, according to a statement on the Kingdom Holdings website. The day-to-day relationship between News Corp and Rotana is likely to be managed by James Murdoch’s team, however."" (thanks Jamal)

Hi. We are the dumb top secret Mossad team. You may have seen our pictures...in every newspaper around the world--only. Now that we have accomplished our mission in Dubai. We are volunteering for our next mission. We want to assassinate Yasser Arafat. That is right. The Mossad has selected us to undertake this very top secret and sensitive mission.

Monday, February 22, 2010

You need to see the front page of the mouthpiece of Prince Salman and his sons (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat). I try to not link to this propaganda trash. But the "editor-in-chief" of this Wahhabi propaganda rag, is trying to absolve the Mossad of responsibility for the assassinations of Israel's enemies in the region. He basically blames Hizbullah and Hamas for the assassination of...Hizbullah and Hamas members. This is one of the most dumb and blatant Mossad leaks that I have seen since...reading the latest column by Ian Black (at least Black can write).

""The Arabs have a tendency to blame Israel for anything that happens in the Middle East," the Israeli FM said, adding that the region "has many internal struggles within groups and states which are not as democratic as Israel is."" So more dumb than the Mossad hit team is the foreign minister of Israel. So according to the Foreign Minister of the Zionist entity, the people above are in fact Arabs who have disguised themselves as non-Arabs?

" When a man fueled by rage against the U.S. government and its tax code crashes his airplane into a building housing offices of the Internal Revenue Service, is it a criminal act or an act of terrorism?" Thanks AP for this important question. Very good question indeed. Well, I will answer you using the standards of Bill Keller of the New York Times. If the man is Muslim or Arab, this would be clearly a terrorist act. But if the man is non-Arab/non-Muslim, it does not qualify as a terrorist act. And if the man is a staunch Zionist, this would be considered a heroic act and the perpetrator in this case would deserve a recognition by US Congress. OK?

"The London-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported that this company is owned by Mohammed Dahlan, formerly a Fatah strongman in the Gaza Strip before its takeover by Hamas two and a half years ago." (thanks Tarek)

"A car suddenly pulled into my path, others blocked me in, and I was dragged out. A man with a police badge said I was under arrest and being taken to Jerusalem for questioning by the security services. But first we would visit my hotel room where they would conduct a search. As we approached the reception, I managed to break away, run into the hotel restaurant and warn someone I knew of my plight. Re-apprehended, my furious captors asked if I would like to be handcuffed. “It doesn’t matter now,” I replied. “The whole restaurant has seen what has happened to me.” I had rightly anticipated they wanted no one to know." (thanks Laleh)

"The Education Ministry's chief scientist sparked a furor among environmental activists and scholars Saturday with remarks questioning the reliability of evolution and global warming theory. The comments from Dr. Gavriel Avital, the latest in a series of written and oral statements casting doubts on the fundamental tenets of modern science, led several environmentalists to call for his dismissal." (thanks Dina)

"In interview to UAE paper, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim says last month's assassination of Hamas official caused diplomatic crisis for Israel, adds has 'dozens of items of incriminating evidence to attest to Mossad's involvement'". So let me get this straight: the Mossad team did a masterful job, if it was not for the "dozens of items of incriminating evidence"? (thanks Farah)

"The chief author of the Bush administration's "torture memo" told Justice Department investigators that the president's war-making authority was so broad that he had the constitutional power to order a village to be "massacred," according to a report released Friday night by the Office of Professional Responsibility. "

"The American units carry a list that gives guidance on payouts:The death of a child or adult is worth $1,500-$2,500, loss of limb and other injuries $600-$1,500, a damaged or destroyed vehicle $500-$2,500, and damage to a farmer's fields $50-$250." (thanks Olivia)

Can you imagine if a US organization launches a tour of two members of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade or of Hizbullah? " StandWithUs, the international Israel education organization is launching a U.S. speaking tour for Israeli soldiers who will recount their personal experiences of serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) including the 2009 attack on Hamas in Gaza." (thanks Marcy)

"The Education Ministry has sent out a letter to religious boarding schools in Tel Aviv saying there have been reports of misbehavior by "Ethiopian born" students in the city's central bus station. The letter obtained by Ynet asks principals to make sure the students take "alternate routes" home in order that they do not disrupt the peace. The letter is signed by the ministry's supervisor of religious boarding schools, Shmuel Dukov. It was sent to principals of boarding schools all over Israel as well as their supervisors, just a week ahead of the Ethiopian Jews' national Sigd festival in Israel." (thanks Ali)

Hi. We are the dumb top secret Mossad hit team. We have not told our neighbors in the Zionist entity what we do for a living. So please don't tell them. We told them that we work in import-export. They would not know now our true identities, would they? Hello? Somebody?

"Much of the book is devoted to the racial slights Boyd suffered during his 20 years at the paper. White subordinates bridled at taking orders from him; white superiors alternately patronized and betrayed him. “The Times was a place where blacks felt they had to convince their white peers that they were good enough to be there,” he writes. He felt he could speak openly about the subject with his white colleagues only rarely — for example, while edit ing a series on race in America that would win a Pulitzer Prize: “I wanted them to understand why blacks think about race so often. Whether they are discriminated against or ignored or feared, they know the reaction is probably triggered by race.”"

"But your judgment that his coverage is fair and evenhanded is not accurate. Even compared with previous Times correspondents, I believe his coverage is clearly more biased in a way that reflects the degree that he and his family are embedded in the Israeli culture. You are correct that appearances are important. It appears that The Times does not care if its Israeli correspondent has a conflict of interest. This does not surprise me. What does surprise me is that after it became known that Mr. Bronner’s son had enlisted in the I.D.F., Bill Keller would choose to make the paper’s bias so public by summarily rejecting your advice to reassign him."

"One is an Egyptian named Raouf who is 23 years old, has studied Kant and can argue the merits of Thomas L. Friedman’s work, but who is isolated among his companions — they have little interest in political philosophy." The traveling fanatic Zionist (who writes about Arab culture without knowing Arabic) found an friend among the natives too. Is that not cute?

"Be’eri, a former officer in an Israel army unit which specialized in impersonating Arabs, came to Wadi Hilwa in 1986 and, posing as a tour guide, befriended one of the residents, Musa ‘Abbasi. ‘Abbasi unwittingly helped Be’eri collect information on the legal status of houses in the village and which owners were living abroad. Be’eri used this information to petition the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property to have these buildings declared “absentee property.” In October 1991 Be’eri took possession of ‘Abbasi’s house." (thanks Joel)

By potato the Sudanese secret police is smarter. The Mossad has just discovered this: "In addition to closed circuit TV systems and the ability to track cellphone and computer users, advanced biometric identification systems and online coordination across borders are becoming more and more widespread."

"Iraq has also dismissed suggestions that it should reduce the number of crimes for which the death penalty can be imposed. The country told the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday that it also wouldn't commit to investigating abuse against gays or decriminalize homosexuality. Neither would it raise the age of penal responsibility to 18 years. It is currently 9 in most of Iraq and 11 in Kurdistan."

This is how you know that the Israeli terrorist in Dubai did not use fake passports. After the first meeting between the British foreign secretary and the Israeli ambassador, all British and Israeli media stated that there was not going to be a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Ehhhh. Hi. We are the top secret Mossad hit team. We move in a group, but in utmost secrecy. We have accomplished our mission in Dubai, and we are ready for our next mission. We move swiftly through airports and no one knows who we are. And we are great with disguises: we buy our disguises from the best Halloween stores in the US.

"I think that violence doesn’t serve them, partly because they’re dealing with a people which sees itself as the ultimate victims, and anything they do involving violence reinforces and strengthens that sense of victimhood."

"There is also the issue of rights: When they say on the conference site that "Indigenous landrace (Baladi) foodcrops have been selected by generations of traditional farmers ..." one must realize that we are talking here about Palestinian farmers, as Israel is less than 60 years old, and the vast majority of its inhabitants came from outside Israel. This genetic material is the property of the Palestinian farmers, who have been forcibly evicted from their lands, turned into refugees, oppressed, cornered into a tiny apartheid zone, who are prevented from harvesting their crops by settlers, and who now have to share their indigenous knowledge "as equal partners" with the perpetrators."

"They move through cage-like passages and 7-foot-high turnstiles to be checked by Israeli soldiers from behind bulletproof glass. The soldiers often yell at them through loudspeakers. They are supposed to work in pairs to speed the lines through, but sometimes one of them is asleep, his feet on his desk." (thanks Olivia)

"Israelis have usurped several Lebanese and oriental products. About ten years ago, they sold 80 tonnes of water-logged cucumbers produced in Gaza greenhouses to the city of Detroit, and called them “Kahale cucumbers”. Kahale is the name of a village in Mount Lebanon which produces a special, non-irrigated sort of cucumber on mountain soil. Extreme vigilance and judicial procedures at an international level are needed to halt these illegal proceedings, which are nothing less than the plunder of a country’s cultural heritage."" (thanks Rami)

Comic by Terry Furry, reproduced from "Heard the One About the Funny Leftist?" by Cris Thompson, East Bay Express

As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.

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